Storytelling in the world of the Sims

THOTB-8.5

The History of Twin Bayous – It Holds What It Holds

After hearing a story from Rochelle Clemens as was told to her by her late husband, Sawyer Clemens, the famous hero of the Jellyfish War, I decided to go to Durtranoit Plantation to investigate.

It was at Dutranoit Plantation that I met briefly with Miss Raquel LeFey before I proceeded to “have a look around”.

Yet I did not have to do too much looking around, because I knew that what I was looking for was a chifforobe, a wardrobe cabinet, that Miss Raquel had made into a magical object.

I found the magical chifforobe and being the hard-boiled detective that I am, I entered the cabinet.

And then in the blink of an eye, I found myself to be in an entirely different place then where I had been only moments before.

I speculated that this place was the place that both Jamie Stoney and Mike Dutranoy had told me about – a place known as the Source – where folks are taken when they’ve been picked up an alien spacecraft or wandered into portal.

Why I was having deja-vu for second time in one day, is anyone’s guess…

…but I decided that I wasn’t going to dwell too much on it and I proceeded to “have a look around”.

I was puzzled about why this place – the Source? – appeared to be void of any inhabitants. Something very catastrophic must had happened here.

After I had taken a moment to freak out, …

…I went out and continued to “look around”.

After looking around for about half-hour, I decided to take a break when I found a lounge with a bar.

The place kind of reminded me of Dino’s on Sunset Boulevard, except instead of a friendly bartender to whom I could bend an ear, I had to argue with a faulty replicator.

Instead of a martini, I wound up with a cosmo.

After a few drinks, I went out and spent a few minutes trying to hail a cab before I realized it was not going to happen.

I wandered the streets, looking around some more. Eventually I made my way to the main library. I walked right up to one particular book case and I pulled out one specific book. It was as if this book had summoned me.

Upon seeing the title of the book, I realized immediately there was something in this book that I needed to see. The title read: The History of Twin Bayous – 8th Edition – Published 1995 (AS)

This chapter told the story of young couple named Mihail LeFey and Katherine Gilliland.

Mihail had come to this place through a portal in the town of Twin Bayous, Louie-sim-ana. Katherine had been brought here by aliens who had abducted her while she was standing on the front lawn of Dutranoit Plantation.

There were in fear for their lives and for lives of all simmanity. Tearfully, Katherine revealed to Mihail that the reality that they knew and experienced was on the verge of destruction.

Their “reality” – Universe-3 – was coming to an end and if they wanted to survive they needed to find a way out.

Katherine believed that she knew of the way out and they needed to get there quickly before the end came.

Katherine told Mihail of how when she arrived at this place, the spaceship she was traveling in crash landed, killing all on board except Katherine who managed to escape from the wreckage unharmed.

Katherine explained to Mihail that while on board the spaceship she was unable to communicate with the aliens. She told him: “Just before the spacecraft crashed I did manage to learn something about the mission of the aliens. Inside the spacecraft there was a holographic image displayed on one of the walls and it was repeated in a loop. After watching it over and over again I realized what the message was. It was a message that our universe, what the aliens called ‘Universe-3’ was coming to end and that the aliens were trying to get us to another universe which they called ‘Universe-4’.”

The chapter ended with a description of how Katherine managed to gain entry to the spacecraft by reading from passages from a book that she carried with her at all times. The exact passages she read were contained in the book that I held in my hands.

The couple entered the spacecraft and from there they found their way into Universe-4.

Following the narrative in the book, I found a place overlooking the wasteland. Looking around I realized that the area looked very much like the Gulf of Simexico shoreline at Twin Bayous. Out in the distance I spotted the crashed spaceship.

I found a way down into the wasteland and ran along a path toward the crash site.

After I arrived at the crash site, I took a brief moment to freak out.

After I calmed down I began to read the same verses that Katherine had read when she and Mihail had gained access to the crashed vehicle.

And then, just like magic (or was it science fiction?), the door to the spacecraft opened.

I found my way into what I assumed to be the control room of the spacecraft.

There on the wall, just as Katherine had describe was the holographic image running on a continuous loop.

I sat in front of the wall for a few minutes, reading, absorbing the message, and then suddenly I “got” it.

This was another portal and it led into another place – a place called Universe-4.

Uffda: Interjection signifying exhaustion, weariness, resignation, or overwhelm, especially used by those of Norwegian descent; see 'oofda'. (The Norwegian-American slang equivalent of the Yiddish term oy.) Black: Me